National Children’s Bureau Event

In May 2009 Rushi Munshi, the Regional Director for the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations was a speaker at the National Children’s Bureau Event ‘Collaborative Working & Commissioning – Facing Challenges Together’.

The event explored Collaborative Working within the BAMER and Faith Sector. National Children’s Bureau developed a series of collaborative working training seminars, which aimed to support VCS organisations from the BAMER and faith based sector to explore the best practice and issues around collaborative working and enable participants to begin the collaborative working process. The seminars were developed as a result of the tailored commissioning training (run through the successful VCS Engage programme), for the BAMER (Black Asian Minority Ethnic and Refugee) and faith based VCS organisations. In their feedback, many participants identified partnership working as the key barrier to playing an active role in the commissioning process. This supported the view from local area commissioners that Local Authorities were less likely to consider applications from individual VCS organisations, and preferred to see a more holistic approach from the sector.

The seminars, which were part training, and part brokerage, explored the various considerations when undertaking partnership with other VCS organisations, local authority, statutory agencies and the private sector, and gives participants key tips about both practical and non tangible considerations when undertaking and evaluating partnership working. Rushi Munshi presented papers for discussion on ‘Collaboration & Funding’ and ‘Future of the BME SECTOR’.